Chapter 487: Monarch's Favor, Withered Leaf's Message

"Huh?"

The lingering ripples of Qi and blood captured by the Monarch swirled and expanded rapidly, restoring fragmented scenes.

Countless honeycomb-like scenes were densely packed all around, surrounding the two of them and distributed across the four corners of the firmament.

Suddenly, an unusual scene caught their attention.

Because the two people fighting were not a martial artist and a shaman, but both were martial artists.

In the scene, Zhou You was grabbing Xiao Jingfeng, exerting force from his lower body to pull and tear, stretching him directly into a rubber man.

Gaoyang had sharp eyes; he pretended to glance over casually and laughed heartily, "What is it? Are your subordinates fighting among themselves?"

"Hmph!"

The Monarch let out a dissatisfied huff. He recognized both people in the scene: one was Zhou You from Fucheng, and the other was Xiao Jingfeng from Weinan.

How did the two of them start fighting, and to the death at that?

Although he knew that friction between martial artists was constant, with internal feuds and disputes over interests emerging one after another, that was a private matter behind closed doors. Now that it was exposed before Gaoyang, his old face could hardly hold up.

"It's nothing, just two juniors playing around."

The Monarch gave this conclusion for the time being; after all, in the scene, Zhou You only dislocated Xiao Jingfeng's joints and did not deal a lethal blow.

"I don't think so!"

Gaoyang sneered, reached out, and tried to snatch more of the Qi and blood ripples.

"Hey, you're competing with me?"

The Monarch grew angry. He jabbed his elbow out, blocking Gaoyang's wrist, and shifted his palm to snatch a wisp of Qi and blood ripples near the area just before Gaoyang could react.

Swish, the scene was restored...

Xiao Jingfeng was galloping for his life on horseback when suddenly a Bronze Short Ge descended from the sky, skewering him and his horse like a meat skewer.

At the source of the Bronze Short Ge was a shaman riding a fat bear, Mu Sigui.

Gaoyang:...

"Gaoyang, I haven't seen this young hero before. Care to introduce him?"

The Monarch's voice was very calm. He reminded Gaoyang that Xiao Jingfeng did not die at the hands of his own kin, but was killed by you shamans.

Gaoyang coughed twice to ease the awkwardness. There were so many shamans; he couldn't possibly know them all.

"Well, my Shaman Clan is full of talent. You see, a common hunter can slay an elite from your noble family."

"Monarch, do you have anything else to say?"

The Monarch did not respond to him. He reached out toward that area again and fished out a wisp of Qi and blood ripples.

"Why keep looking? The person is already dead."

Gaoyang advised, "The battlefield changes in an instant; people are dying every moment. A single disciple of the Xiao family is not worth a second look."

Bullshit. What I want to see is Zhou You. Although little Xiao Jingfeng is dead, he is still alive.

After that wisp of Qi and blood ripples was lifted, it restored the scene of the fight.

This time, the other party went silent.

In the scene, it was clearly Zhou You holding a long spear, defeating Mu Sigui cleanly and efficiently.

Crack, crack! Mu Sigui's legs suffered comminuted fractures, his arms were broken, and he collapsed on the ground, unable to struggle. The expression of grief and despair on his face was as if it were right before their eyes.

What? The previous scene showed Mu Sigui killing Xiao Jingfeng, and in the next scene, he was crushed by Zhou You.

Gaoyang did not consider that the chronological order of the scenes might be reversed; he just felt a bit embarrassed.

"Haha, how about that?"

The Monarch felt extremely satisfied. Three scenes, several reversals, and in the end, the martial artist still had the upper hand.

He watched the dissipating scene and remembered Zhou You's appearance. This child should be rewarded, heavily rewarded!

Without realizing it, Zhou You had entered the Monarch's favor without his own knowledge. Zhou You specifically cleared out a Hunger Pouch to store the Curse Jade.

This piece of black jade was extremely eerie, constantly emitting black Qi. The black Qi seemed to have a life of its own, drilling toward the nearest living body.

Zhou You tried to isolate it with Qi and blood several times, but the black Qi emitted by the black jade remained persistent, attempting to drill into his seven orifices and pores.

At the time, Mu Sigui had embedded this object in his forehead, surely using a shaman's secret technique to drive it; he had better not try it lightly.

Putting it into the Hunger Pouch to isolate it from the outside world finally brought him peace of mind.

He took a withered leaf from his sleeve; this was what he had just searched from Xiao Jingfeng's body.

Ordinary withered leaves were only good for starting fires, but this one was different. There was ink on the surface, clearly written with a piece of Seal Script.

Zhou You swept his gaze over it and understood the meaning of the Seal Script: the Golden Immortal Dao was inviting Moyunzi to meet nearby.

Oh, looking for Moyunzi, huh? Never mind then, because I am Zhou You.

He threw the withered leaf away casually. He didn't even need to consider or think about whether it was a trap; he decided to ignore it.

Searching for someone with such fanfare on the battlefield—anyone with a bit of intelligence would stay far away to avoid getting splattered with blood.

Suddenly, the wind blew the withered leaf, and an unusual trembling sound arose, containing a wealth of information.

The Seal Script 'Sound' that Zhou You had mastered quickly detected something unusual; the withered leaf also hid a second layer of information: sound.

He pinched the withered leaf and used the Seal Script 'Sound' to study the information inside.

A moment later, he reached the following conclusion.

The withered leaf had been tampered with. Someone had used a "drawing a snake and adding feet" technique to specifically alter the information regarding the most critical meeting location and method.

Clearly, the person who altered the information was also a veteran of the Golden Immortal Dao, leaving almost no traces.

Yet, the origin of the original information, while also derived from Seal Script, stemmed from the obscure Seal Sound.

The tamperer clearly did not understand Seal Sound; although they altered the surface information, the hidden sound information inside was preserved.

If it had been another Golden Immortal Dao member who didn't know any better, they would certainly have been fooled, misled to the wrong location, and fallen into a trap.

Zhou You, however, was different; the Seal Script 'Sound' he had mastered was the natural channel that connected with Seal Sound.

Comparing the two completely different pieces of information, he immediately saw the mystery within.

"Whoever tampered with the information has malicious intent, and their foundation in Seal Script is also profound."

"Considering the time and location, apart from that old scoundrel Kunpengzi, there is no one else who could be lurking nearby."

Zhou You was excited; he had no interest in the Hunger Pouch, but if he could catch that old scoundrel Kunpengzi, he would be ten thousand times willing.

Hmm, Kunpengzi tampered with the information with the goal of drawing out 'Moyunzi' and extracting the secret of the Hunger Pouch.

Since that is the case...

After pondering for a day and a night, Zhou You held the withered leaf and set off along the route on it.

He held a talisman book in one hand and an Iron Spear in the other, proceeding cautiously like parting grass to find a snake; he first used the talisman book to part the Witch Banners, and whenever he encountered a hidden witch person, he would stab them to death with a single spear thrust.

Occasionally encountering tough opponents, whether they drove witch beasts or secretly deployed Gu Insects, at most it just took a bit more effort.

Through one bloody battle after another, he honed his fist techniques and spear skills, and his strength rose in leaps and bounds.

Zhou You had already sensed that the barrier to Intermediate Martial Master had been compressed to the limit, only an inch away, yet this was also the moment when the obstruction was strongest.

The breakthrough was right before his eyes, but he had to create an excellent environment to ensure success.

On this day, Zhou You parted the Witch Banners as usual, but what stood before him was not a witch person attempting a sneak attack, but a blind old man.

The blind old man's eyes were empty, with no eyeballs in his sockets, and his hands were curled in front of his chest.

Looking around, it was clearly the meeting point recorded on the withered leaf.

(End of this chapter)